,T5 




rom Ancient Egypt 
to Potsdam 



A WORLD HISTOIiY REVIEW 



BY 



EDITH THOMSON 



PRICE, ONE DOLLAR 



From Ancient Egypt 
to Potsdam 

A WORLD HISTORY REVIEW 



BY 

EDITH THOMSON 



PRICE $1.00 



^5 



coptbiqht, 1918, 

By 

EDITH THOMSON 



©CI.A5072'n 

Press of 

J. J. Little & Ives Co., 

New York 

OCT 18 Ibid 



n-AO \ 



FROM ANCIENT EGYPT TO 
POTSDAM- 

AN HISTORICAL DEDl'CTION 

To get even a superficial idea of the immense struggle which is 
going on in the world to-day, and of international relations, it is 
necessary to study the history, psychology and ge- 
rreface ograpliv of the various nations concerned, and then 

get a general idea of their individual constitutions and religions. 
To attempt any understanding of the present war without these, is 
pure arrogance ; and to gain, even a slight knowledge of the situa- 
tion, one must go hack, not two or three centuries, but to the early 
days before Europe became great as she is to-day, to the time when 
Egj-pt was the center of the earth. 

The civilization of Eg>'pt is, as we all know, the earliest we have 
been able to penetrate, dating back as far as 9000 years B. C. ; and 
ancient Thebes could boast a knowledge of many things that until 
Ancient recently have been a mysterA' to the present era ; such as 

History tlying, feats of engineering, and the making of dyes and 

chemicals. Spreading by conquest and colonization through Persia, 
Palestine and Greece, P'gypt was later confjuered by 
^^^^' the Greeks, Macedonians and Romans; who in their 

turn wrested supremacy from each other. 

About 2000 years B. C, the power of ancient Egj-pt began to 
decline, and Greece rose to supplant her in greatness ; to attain after 
twelve or thirteen centuries, a wonderful culture as 
^'■«««=® well as military power. At this period Greek architec- 

ture, sculpture, literature and philosophy were at their zenith, and 
the Greeks were victorious in many wars. Some three hun- 
dred years later, however, her epoch of leadership was at an end: 
her strength was undermined by her wars, Persian, Messinian, etc., 
and to the east Alexander of :\Iacedon threatened Greece, while 
westwards the power of Rome was growing. 

In the second century before Christ, after Hannibal had invaded 

'The titlo refers to the resemblance between the armies of ancient EfO'Pt 
and those of modern Germany— The former were ignorant, the latter misin- 
formed; but both summoned and orpanized by absolute autocracy; in strik- 
inp contrast to the responsible armies of the allies, fighting for an ideal 
Democracy. 

3 



Italy and the Punic wars, Rome finally conquered Greece ; and not 
Rome content with being the lords of Europe, in the next 

hundred years, reduced the now weakened Egypt to 
a state of subjection also. Thus at the time of Christ, the Roman 
Empire stood at the height of its glory, dominating Southern 
Europe and the Mediterranean coast of Africa. The race 
that has given us the Armenian, the Turk, the Syrian, the Levan- 
tine and the Jew, had fallen, with the crushing of Egypt, after 
such centuries of supremacy as history has never known before or 
since : and having given the final blow to both Egyptian and Greek 
sovereignty, the Latins, not as they became later under Nero and 
his successors, indolent and degenerate from too much ease, but 
alert and vigorous, were the masters of the world. 

As the Egyptians had done, they sent great forces against the 
savage tribes, conquering new worlds as well as old. Gaul, Albion 
and the barbaric hordes of Teutons fell before them ; to overcome 
them later in their turn, after having absorbed by proximity and 
marriage, the strength and knowledge of the invaders.^ 

Expelling the Romans, wresting some of their territory from 
them, resisting Attila and the Huns, the Franks (a people from 
the Rhine, but settled in Gaul) now became the domi- 
nant people ; until culminating in her greatness under 
Charlemagne, France stepped gracefully aside, not through outside 
force, but because she lacked a strong man to hold her together; 
and preferred to keep what she could intact, than by greed to 
lose much, as Rome did after the days of Julius and Augustus. 

This was the beginning of a new epoch: the tremendous power 
of one race was ended, and definite nations began to shape them- 
The selves. Founded on the ruins of the Empire of Rome, 

Ages the Italian states were formed ; each with its sovereign 

rights, quarreling much between themselves, but still with a sem- 
blance of being a union. Spain, with its population derived from 
Moors, Latins, and the original inhabitants something like the 
Gauls, was becoming powerful. Even the Teuton tribes, though 
still lagging far behind, were showing the influence of the Roman 
domination, and were becoming organized into a group of semi- 
civilized nations : while that magnificent race of Vikings and Norse- 
men had set up a civilization in the North, that though got through 
piratage and theft was yearly growing stronger. 

England, set apart by the sea, had both lost and gained by this 

natural boundary ; her invasions had been less frequent, but she had 

-g had less opportunity too, to feel the influence of the 

"^ ^" invaders. So, though held in turn by Roman, Dane 

and Saxon, up to the eleventh century, she was individual and dis- 

*The Romans sowed seeds of modern culture and civilization in the coun- 
tries they conquered. 



tinct ; and having had little need to ujiite against a common foe, 
she had become disintegrated. Then the Norman conquest united 
her people, and under the Norman rule which followed she became 
organized as France was. The old story was repeated, as the Egyp- 
tians, Greeks, and Romans had done, the invaders gave far more 
than they took, by giving learning and discipline to the conquered 

people ; but unlike those other powers, however, the 
Conquest Xormans became acclimatized, completely assimilated 

with the Saxons, and instead of being a subject colony 
England was for the first time a powerful nation. 

Scotland soon began to absorb the civilization of England and 
her clans became united ; she kept, however, her complete independ- 
ence. Ireland was invaded and settled under the reign 

of Henry ]I.. as it had been in Roman times; the Celtic 
inhabitants going South and West, while the settlers from England 
and Scotland made their homes in that part which is to-day known 

as rister. Two events only occurred during this period 

re and which have any immediate influence on the present ; the 

i\Iagna Charta which King John gave to the barons in 1215, and 

the first parliament with the connnon people represented in 1299. 

These two events are the foundation of the democracy 
Charta which is Spreading over the world in the Twentieth 

Century ; but at the time they were of little consequence 
outside the British Isles. 

From the eleventh to the fifteenth century, with the exception 
of these local events in England, little of vital importance occurred 

except the invention of gunpowder. Historians cannot 
powder agree upon who made this discovery, which was 

destined to play such a tremendous part in histor^^ ; 
some say it was Roger Bacon in England, but most give the credit 
to Berthold Schwartz, a German, and the first organized gunpowder 
works were established at Augsburg in 1348.^ Nations during this 
period waged wars, made treaties, changed their boundaries, but 
nothing was permanent or of great moment, with the exception of 
the crusades against the Turks and Saracens. These fruitless ef- 
forts to regain the Holy Sepulcher would temporarily unite the 
nations, but usually ended in fresh wars between the allies. Then 
when all seemed comparatively quiet, came one of the greatest 
events of history: the Reformation. 

With the Westward sweep of civilization, and the great Empire 
of Rome, Christianity, born as civilization was in the East, came 

M'cstward from Palestine, too. The followers of Jesus 
Rlugions Christ, in the century that succeeded His death, brought 

their new faith to Rome, knowing that it was the center 
of the world of that day. 

'It h:is been established that the early Cluncsc used gunpowder. 



Up to that time the Greeks had had their gods and goddesses, 
the Egyptians theirs, and the Romans yet another set ; while the 
Chris- Jewish belief, though more enlightened than the Pagan, 

tianity ^nd recognizing but one God, was the very antithesis 

of our own. Now through untiring labor and often martyrdom, the 
little band of disciples did their work, spreading the doctrines of 
Christianity until with unbelievable speed the new faith was ac- 
cepted by those who had persecuted it the most. The followers of 
Christ worked in a way that brought wonderful spiritual returns; 

with no rules save those which the Master had given 
Church^^ them, but with complete unity that brought a great 

yearly increase in their conversions. Then after several 
centuries the organized church was formed, and from that time 
there were sects and parties, schisms and dissensions. The cardi- 
nals quarreled with each other for the favor of the Pope, now the 

recognized head of the church ; the bishops intrigued 
Rome^ ° to bcconie cardinals; and at one time there were even 

two popes, one at Avignon and one at Rome. 
The crusades, sanctioned by the popes, and supported by France, 
England and the most advanced of the European nations, now 

involved the church with politics for the first time. 
Politics Until this period, its influence had been spiritual, now 

the Vatican began to interfere in the national quarrels 
of its adherents; and among the sovereign duchies and kingdoms 
of Italy, the Papal state became a great political factor. Soon the 
princes of the church were religious in name only, leaving spiritual 
teachings to more humble brothers, while they ruled kings, and 
governed states. 

Until the fifteenth century the Church of Rome was the ac- 
cepted church of Europe, but at this time a new thought was offered 

the world by Luther and was eagerly snatched at by 

those who disapproved of some of the usages enforced 
by the organized church, or were disgusted by the corrupt atmos- 
phere of the Vatican of those times. In the new religion, people 
could keep their old beliefs and at the same time be free of certain 
things that were obnoxious to them. 

The new sect spread rapidly, and got a large following through 
Northern Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Scotland, England 
Reforma- ^nd France ; while the Church of Rome kept its power 
t^°" almost intact through Italy, Spain, Austria and 

Portugal. 

All through the sixteenth century Protestants were persecuted, 
and the hopes of the new faith went up and down : the Vatican 
established the Inquisition to exterminate it, in the nations where 
the Church of Rome was supreme, but in spite of all it grew. In 
England, to suit his own convenience, Henry VIII. adopted the 



reformed religion, establishing it as the Church of England; and 
though his daughter Queen Mary, a zealous Catholic (married to a 
Spaniard), did her best to stamp down the Reformation, on the 
accession of her sister Elizabeth it was again restored. 

In France, Henry IV., a Huguenot, fought for the new faith 
against the league of nobles who upheld the Church of Rome : when 
he became king, however, though he liad nearly lost his life in the 
St. Bartholomew massacre of Huguenots under his brother-in-law 
Charles IX., Henry revoked the edict of Nantes, proclaiming relig- 
ious freedom; and took for his second wife Marie de ^ledici, a 
stanch Catholic. 

So much for the ups and downs of the Protestant church, which 
partly because of its fine (jualities, partly because of its opposition, 
became firmly established: meanwhile another sect, a 
Church branch of the early Christian church had become or- 

ganized in Greece; known as the Orthodox Greek 
Church. Completely independent of the Church of Rome, though 
built on the same foundation, this faith strangely enough resembles 
the Protestant religion in many ways; its interpretation of the 
sacrament of communion is the same, and there is no celibacy in 
the Greek Church ; but on the other hand its relics and saints are 
unlike the reformed church. It is interesting to realize that in 
1014 there was for the first time inter-communication between the 
Episcopal and Greek churches; but to go back to the early cen- 
turies, this faith grew and spread in Eastern Europe, as the Catho- 
lic did in the West ; and gradually made its way northward through 
what is to-day the Balkans and Russia. 

Now, while Europe was changing and molding itself into the 
Europe of to-day, the Orient was developing an entirely different, 
but equally wonderful civilization. The drift of cul- 
o?ient *"^'^ ^"^ learning had gone eastward more slowly than 

it had west, for it was not by conquest and wars, but 
by gradual absorption. The greatness of Persia was temporarily 
dead but some seeds of her learning and art had been sown in India, 
and Indian Sanscrit literature and architecture of the earlj- cen- 
turies equal anything that is in Europe to-day. 

It is remarkable how civilization and religion react on one 
another; civilization is essential to religion, and religion is neces- 
sary to civilization. Had the followers of Christ 
^"^ crossed the Indian Ocean, in those early days, history 
would probably have been very difTerent; but as Christianity was 
unknown east of Palestine, Buddhism became the religion of the 
Orient. The followers of Buddha, the prophet of the East, a good 
man and groat philosopher, wont north and east making conversions 
as the Christian missionaries had done, spreading their faith through 
Burmah, China and later Japan. 



These missionaries, who carried Indian civilization to China, 
found one already established there, and though comparatively little 
is known to-day of that early Chinese life, we know 
that it built great walls, molded beautiful figures, but 
above all that it had wonderful thoughts, that have survived all the 
centuries. The philosophers of China were truly great; and their 
leader, Confucius, gave China her second religion; the third, the 
Lama faith, which exists also in Tibet, is a relic of Barbarism, and 
cannot in any way be compared with Buddhism or Confucianism. 
By the eighth or ninth century, intercourse between the differ- 
ent countries of the Orient became established ; China was an Em- 
pire, Korea a nation, and venturesome missionaries 
crossed the China Sea, to carry their belief to the 
inhabitants of Japan. Until then little had been known of Nippon ; 
the Koreans and Japanese had had several wars, but they had left 
few marks, and a mystery surrounded the island neighbor, which 
was too busy with its own civil wars to bother about outsiders. 

Many centuries before, how long we do not know, though history 

puts it about the seventh century B. C, the sun goddess had given 

Japan a ruler; and the descendants of this Mikado, 

Jimmu Tenno, son of Heaven and representative of the 

Sun itself, nominally ruled Japan; but in reality had but a small 

loyal following. The Empress Jingo (200 A, D.) for a time pulled 

the Island Empire together, but after her death it again became 

divided. In the South near Kyoto, the Mikado ruled, but in the 

North the Daimeos and Samurai fought, murdered and robbed each 

other to their heart's content. At last after a long struggle, in the 

ninth century the Tokaido road was built joining 

the North and South, and the various nobles met with 

the Emperor at Kamakura, and made a truce. From that time a 

shogun, a sort of viceroy, was chosen from among the nobles to 

represent the Mikado in the North, while he ruled in the South. 

The outcome of this was of course constant warfare between the 
Mikados and the Shoguns, until centuries later the famous Toku- 
gawa Shoguns got control of all Japan, ruling in the Emperor's 
name, but really their own masters, while they held each Mikado 
in turn practically a prisoner in Kyoto. In religion, too, Japan was 
divided ; the North adhering to the Shinto belief in nature and 
ancestors' spirits, while the South welcomed Buddhism. The mis- 
sionaries were allowed to establish themselves in Southern Japan, 
but there was little communication between the island and the 
continent of Asia until centuries later. 

in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries another race reappeared 

to play an important part in Asia. The Tartars, a yellow race, 

_, coming from Central Asia, began making savage raids 

upon China; until they conquered the northern prov- 

8 



inces, and set the IManchu emperors upon the throne, wliere their 
descendants remained until the revolution in 1911. 

The Tartars had turned west too, making their attacks upon 
Russia, which was at that time but a group of clans ruled by Boy- 
Russia ^^^ ^"^ independent nobles, who had been little in- 
fluenced by Western civilization, except through the 
Greek Church. In the fifteenth century, they united to meet the 
invaders, and so became a nation ; the nucleus of the huge Russian 
Empire — as culture had gone west and turned east, it also went 
east to return west, and met last of all almost due north of where 
it had started, in Russia; which to this day keeps its curious mix- 
ture of oriental and occidental customs. 

By this time a new phase had come in the southeast, the Turk 
was by his aggression becoming known in Europe; though distinctly 
The Turk '^'^ Asiatic, he was not content to remain in Asia, and 
after conquering the Eastern P]mpire and making Con- 
stantinople his capital, he invaded the Balkans and Austria, mak- 
ing his power felt in the Western world. 

Persia meanwhile had built on the ruins of her ancient gran- 
deur a new and prosperous civilization, closely resembling that 
of India. At length legendary tales of their wealth 
and and luxury drifted to Europe, and lured adven- 

india turous Seamen to investigate their truth. Men had 

become interested and curious about other parts of the earth , navi- 
gation was not so hazardous as it had been, and at the end of the 
fifteenth century the theory of a round earth had been proved by 
the discover}' of a new continent — America. 

For some time men had been suggesting the probability of a new 

continent. The Renaissance, which had succeeded the ignorance 

of the middle ages in Europe, had started in Italy 

European developing all the art and intelligence of the Venetians, 

Renais- i. c c? 7 

sance iMilancse and Florentines; and spread to the courts 

of Vienna and ^Madrid, the latter being at the zenith 
of its power. France, although responding to the influence of the 
times, had not yet attained the brilliancy she knew a few years 
later under Francois I. and the infamous Catherine de ]\Iedici; 
and England torn by the wars of the roses had none of the enlight- 
enment that made her rise to leadership in the six- 
Discovery tccnth century under Henry VIII. and Queen Eliza- 
America beth. So when Christopher Columbus, a Genoese of 
humble birth, determined to start out in search of a 
new world, it was to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain that he took 
his plans and received their support. 

For several centuries, intercourse and trade had existed between 
certain Northeast Scottish clans and the Canadian Indians; but 



this had never spread to England or the continent, and was prac- 
tically unknown : so, as we all know, when Columbus discovered 
America, he proclaimed it a Spanish colony in the name of Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella, and returned to Europe with glowing accounts 
of the new world. 

He was immediately followed by a succession of explorers of 
different nationalities : during the sixteenth century it was mostly 
sailors of Spain and England who ventured across the 
cronies" Atlantic; but early in the seventeenth, Dutch and 
French settlers crossed the sea, in search of religious 
freedom. This migration to America was another immediate result 
of the Reformation. 

The wars that existed in Europe were now carried on in minia- 
ture by the colonists of the various nations in the new world ; while 
the Red Indian inhabitants were, in spite of continuous raids, 
driven to the West. Though at first not very antagonistic to the 
settlers, their treatment by the white men, particularly by the Span- 
iards, had made bitter enemies of them. The English fought the 
Spaniards in America as well as in Europe, and later the Dutch, 
establishing themselves firmly from the Carolinas to Massachu- 
setts ; and later still scored against their enemy of the moment, the 
French, by the conquest of Canada. 

Tobacco, a new necessity, was grown in Virginia, as was cotton 
throughout the South ; and the colonies of North America prospered 
under the hard work of the stalwart settlers. African Negroes 
were imported to do the agricultural work of the plantations, and 
became an institution in the South ; while the industrial North had 
little use for them, and developed settlements and towns, rather 
than large land estates. 

Governors of the colonies were appointed by England, but 
throughout the Stuart rule, there were too many civil wars at 
home for the English Government to think very seriously of 
America, except as a far away land, to which rebels could be 
shipped; and in consequence there was more liberty in the colonies 
than in Great Britain herself. 

Meanwhile, in Central Europe, which had no seacoast to inspire 
navies or oversea colonies, there had become organized a great 
league of states, known as the Holy Roman Empire.^ 

AVhile France under the Valois and the Bourbon had been grow- 
ing in power, and England had been extending her dominions 
across the seas both in America and India, Central 
Holy Europe had formed, first for protection, then for its 

Empire advantage, a group of nations; which elected their 

emperor, to whom they owed their allegiance and sup- 

* Charlemagne's empire, which had become disintegrated, was revived under 
a Saxon emperor in the 10th century. 

10 



port. For years, this privilege had been held by the Dukes of 
Austria, because of tiie superior size of their domains ; until at 
the end of the seventeenth century, the imperial throne was prac- 
tically a hereditary possession of the Ilapsburpj family. 

Established and powerful for centuries, the oldest of the ruling 
families, the Ilapsburgs had absorbed by annexations and marriage 
. alliances, Hungary, Bohemia, Tuscany, and several 

other of the petty states; while their recent successful 
wars against the Turks had given them new realms to the Southeast. 
The states were glad to lend their armies to the powerful Austrian 
Emperor of their Empire in return for his support, which carried 
Bavaria Weight in Spain and France, where they were thought 

Saxony little of. Among the other leading sovereigns of the 

Hanover . T-ii ^ t-» • . tt 

Branden- empire Were the Electors of Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, 
""^^ and Brandenburg; the latter at this time with the sanc- 

tion of the Emperor added to his Duchy of Brandenburg the King- 
dom of Prussia. 

All through the seventeenth century there were continuous wars: 
tile Thirty Years' War, which included most of Europe; the over- 
Prussia throw of foreign rule in Holland; the Xorthern wars, 
in which first Gustavus Adolphus and then Charles 
XII. raised Sweden to a power it had never known before or since; 
constant civil wars in Poland and Russia, which under Ivan VI. 
Seven- an<l Peter the Great had become consolidated into a 
cvntury nation, having defeated the Tartars and crossed the 
Wars I'rals into Siberia ; and lastly the Turkish wars, had 
Spanish *^^ ^^'I^* ^'^^ Continent in a state of mobilization, and the 
Succession dawning Eighteenth Century, saw the different na- 
tions engaged on their favorite battle ground in Flanders, in the 
war of tlie Spanish succession. 

Austria and her vassals under Prince Eugene ; the English, whose 
civil wars were now ended by the accession of William of Orange, 
under jMarlborough ; were allied to fight the aggressive 
France jiowcr of the magnificent Louis XIV., who had raised 

Louis XIV. France to her utmost glorj- of intellectual, material 
and military power. With a nation prepared by Riche- 
lieu and ]\Iazarin, and with exceptional ability of his own, he made 
France the foremost power, and Versailles the ]\Iecca of his times; 
even the far away Emperor of China sent an ambassador to his 
court, while his enemies envied and aped him, and Charles II. and 
James II. tried to make England his dupe. The succession of his 
grandson to the throne of Spain brought a termination of the war, 
aiul soon the brilliant if unscrupulous king died, succeeded by a 
long regency, before the boy Loilis XV. attained his majority. 

Vov a time there was a truce: Augustus the strong sat shakily on 
the throne of Poland, defending his two realms from the si)asmodic 

11 



attacks of the Swedes ; Austria was again menaced by the Turks ; 
Peter and Catherine I. and Empress Elizabeth of Russia devoted 
their attention to internal affairs; Spain and Portugal were glad 
to have peace and retain what was left of their past glories, many 
of which the recent wars had despoiled them of. England was 
occupied with India and reestablishing domestic prosperity after 
nearly a hundred years of civil struggles; and the Electors con- 
tented themselves with quarreling between themselves and imitat- 
ing the grandeur of Versailles. 

Then towards the middle of the century Louis XV., having 
reached the age when he wished to distinguish himself by 
Louis XV winning wars, and Fleury being too old to keep peace, 
and ^ ■ France made the death of Augustus the Strong its 
the^poush* excuse for placing Stanislas Leszezynski (Louis's fa- 
succession ther-in-law) on the Polish throne, instead of Augustus 
III. ; and so began the war of the Polish succession. 

Poland had for years been a bone of contention; for placed as 
she was geographically, she was of the utmost importance. One of 
p la d ^^^ ^°^* enlightened Slav peoples, and among the 

most powerful of the Central European states, though 
the Poles had never been conquered by the Romans, they had in 
the early centuries absorbed much of their civilization, so much so 
that Latin was still in the eighteenth century the language of Po- 
land. Her kings were elected by her nobles, which gave on the 
death of each one, an opportunity for intrigues by the various 
courts of Europe. Her constitution besides being way ahead of the 
times was thoroughly inconsistent, and the democratic ideas which 
forbade an absolute monarchy, did not prevent the nobles from 
using their privileges to their own advantage. For years since the 
days of Catherine de Medici, France had tried to place her puppet 
on the throne of Poland ; the Empress Elizabeth had plans of its 
absorption by Russia, which were to be carried out later in the 
century by the Empress Catherine II. ; it had been only through the 
power of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, that Augustus 
II. had seized and kept his kingdom : now his death gave another 
opening for Louis XV. to supplant the influence of Charles VI. 

Supported by Spain and Sardinia, the French attacked the Aus- 
trians, who were defending the rights of their ally and vassal, 
Augustus III. In spite of brilliant victories, however, by the Due 
de Noaille and the Marechal de Saxe, Augustus held the throne of 
Poland; and peace was made which lasted only four years, until 
the death of the Emperor Charles threw Europe into arms again. 
The War of the Austrian Succession, as it is called, is 
War of the one of the great events of history, not so much because 
Succession of the immediate changes it produced, as because it 
was virtually the end of the Holy Roman Empire, and 

12 



laid the foundation of Germany as she is to-day. Maria Theresa, 
daughter of the Emperor Charles, and wife of Duke Francis 
of Lorraine and Tuscany, claimed on the death of her father 
(1740) the imperial throne, according to the agreement made 
by him ; but the Elector Charles of Bavaria, thinking he saw an 
opportunity, claimed the throne for himself, and was supported by 
Saxony and France. The young King of Prussia, Frederick the 
Great, offered the Empress his aid, provided she cede Silesia to him, 
which on her refusal he seized, invading Austria, 
the'crla't Attacked on all sides, Maria Theresa was ecjual to the 
occasion, and summoning her loyal subjects, she de- 
feated her enemies, making meanwhile overtures to England, which 
came to her assistance. Holland and Hanover, seeing how the tide 
went, came in on her side, while Frederick, through compromise, 
made an advantageous peace; leaving France to bear the allied 
blow alone. 

Although peace was made on seemingly easy terms at Aix-la- 
Chapelle, from that moment the power of France began to wane : 
though nominally the Holy Roman Empire lasted a few years 
longer, it was from this time really the Empire of Austria; and 
now for the first time the Kingdom of Prussia took a place among 
the great powers of the Avorld. For another century Bavaria, 
Saxony and a few other states remained independent ; but wnth the 
birth of Prussia, the power of small states ceased. 

Frederick II. was a genius ; brought up with a severity that often 
reached the point of cruelty, by his father, Frederick AVilliam, his 
early education is responsible not only for the com- 
Prussia plete unscrupulousness that he displayed in after life, 

Frederick but for the discipline and militarism that exists in 
Germany to-day. The Hoheiizollerns had been petty 
.sovereigns for centuries, first as rulers of Nuremberg, then of 
Brandenburg, until Frederick's grandfather, Frederick I., in 1701 
had declared himself King of Prussia; the young king's ambition, 
however, far exceeded that of his father or the first Frederick, and 
dreamed of extending his domains, so that his kingdom might rival 
that ^f Austria. His military talents were remarkable, but were far 
exceeded by his political ability: during his reign he not only 
reduced ^Saxony to a state of submission and wrested territory- from 
Louis XV., but by treaties acquired Silesia and part of Poland. 

Frederick exercised a strong personal influence over people, as 
for instance .the young Czarewitch, who on coming to the throne in 
1762, deserted Russia's ally, Maria Theresa; granted everything 
that Frederick asked ; and was soon deposed because of his pro- 
Prussianism in favor of his wife, Catherine II. (the Great). 

Besides extending the boundaries of Prussia and making her 
armies unparalleled in discipline and efficiency, Frederick had 

13 



other ambitions: he gave his patronage to music, composing and 
playing himself; he induced the best architects and artists to come 
to Berlin, and encouraged literature in every possible way. The 
influence of Louis XIV. still existed, and French culture was still 
looked upon as the highest in Europe; but Frederick wished to 
surpass even the intellectual brilliancy which Versailles boasted in 
V It ir *^® seventeenth century. He became infatuated with 

Voltaire, who flattered him about his literary talents; 
and from him absorbed some of his democratic ideas, which were 
strangely inconsistent with Frederick's policies. He i-uled Prussia 
with a rod of iron, building up a "petite noblesse," which being 
dependent upon hira, could be counted upon to support him ; while 
he emancipated himself entirely from the influence of the great 
nobles who surrounded him. 

The part which Voltaire played in the king's life may be seen, 
however, in the local governments which Frederick organized: the 

feudal system, which Mazarin and Richelieu had nearly 
FeudaHsrn * destroyed in France, now vanished from Germany too, 

and the condition of the poor people was better than 
in France, Austria, Russia or the other German states of that 
period. As in Germany to-day, the king's deputies kept a sharp 
look-out for any one that might prove useful to him : even among 
the peasants, any one who showed talent of any kind was brought 
to his notice, and if their possibilities materialized, he got the 
benefit of them. Frederick thought it was far easier to ennoble 
those who were of service to him, than to seek those he could use 
among the limited noble class ; just as Napoleon did fifty years later. 
In doing so, he made enemies of nearly all the great houses of 
Europe; and even before their quarrel, the adored Voltaire often 
laughed at his royal friend's inconsistency and poses. Neverthe- 
less, Prussia had reached the foremost rank among the nations; 
and on his death Frederick left it firmly established with the new 
system, that was a few years later to force itself on England and 
France; and gradually spread over the world. 

One of the reasons, no doubt, that during the latter part of the 
eighteenth century Prussia had advanced so rapidly, was that the 

other great powers were occupied with their own affairs. 
Democracy This is the period that separates the old from the new ; 

the past from modern times. The will of the people 
began to have weight: Frederick foresaw the wave of democracy 
coming, and met it with compromise which averted, for that century 
and the next, the national upheaval in Germany that the other 
nations were destined to face. 

For several centuries England had had a parliament where the 
common folk were represented ; and the attempts of the Stuarts 

14 



to disregard their desires had met with complete failure. Charles 
I. had lost his head, and James II. his throne, through trj'ing 
to go against parliament, and in consequence during the reigns of 
William and 31ary, and of Queen Anne, the constitution had been 
strictly observed. When, however, on Anne's death, the elector of 
Hanover ascended the English throne as George I., the old regime 
was again tried. 

In Hanover there was little independence or public opinion, and 
George could not understand why he should treat his English sub- 
jects difTerontly from his German. During the reigns of his two 
successors, George II. and III., the tyranny continued, despite the 
attempts of some of the great lords to induce a change of policy; 
until in the seventies, things had reached a climax. Parliament 
was controlled by the king and his immediate entourage; and 
in spite of the efforts of Sir Robert Walpole, it was afraid to use 
its power; the people were discontented, but the remembrance of 
the civil wars kept them from rising. At last it was the subjects 
over seas that overthrew the arrogance of George III., by fighting 
and gaining their independence. 

In 1775 the American colonies rose against the injustice of the 
king's government, demanding proper taxation and representation, 

and soon after, on the haughty refusal of tlie king to 
independ-. comply, they severed their connection with the mother 
*°*^® countr}' by backing up their demands by force. The 

war was not popular in England; in fact public opinion was 
strongly on the side of the colonies, and among the aristocracy, 
only the court itself was in sympathy with the king. Lord Howe 
asked to be relieved of a duty that was o<lious to him, but ou 
being told that the king's request was really a command, he reluct- 
antly took control of the English army in America, made up to a 
great extent of paid foreign troops. 

The victory of the American colonies, now the United States of 
America, after a long and desperate fight, was also one of the 

greatest victories for English liberty ; and should rank 
Revolution with the Magna Charta and the Long Parliament in 
m England ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^j English history. The strength of the 
king's supporters had met with a check which gave new courage to 
parliament; and the voice of the people was now heeded in England 
without any revolution to enforce it. 

This, however, was not the case in France; the lot of the poor 
had been hard enough in the days of Louis XIV. when the taxes 

paid for armies that w^on wars and glory, Imt during 
France the reign of Louis XV. the armies they supported lost 

LouhTxv. what had been won, and the people grew tired of 
Louis XVI. paying for disastrous wars. The treaty of Aix-la- 

Chapelle had been advantageous to Austria and les- 

15 



sened the prestige of France, while her colonies in India were now 
in the hands of the English. Worse, however, was the case after 
Louis XVI. ascended the throne, in 1774, for the huge national 
debt, accrued during the two preceding reigns, had reached a 
point where it could not be increased : money could not be borrowed 
abroad, and the suggestions of economy made by Turgot and Necker, 
were met with disfavor by the self-interested court which sur- 
rounded the weak young king. There was but one other course: to 
redouble taxation, and this was done, while the price of bread and 
other necessities soared, and the extravagance of the court 
continued. 

The Queen, the daughter of Maria Theresa, had, as the Arch- 
duchess Marie Antoinette, been the darling of the Austrian court; 
and accustomed to the autocratic policies of the Haps- 
Antoinette burgs, shc could not Or would not understand why the 
people of France should be considered. She found 
Versailles dull and formal after the brilliant gayety of Vienna, and 
she sought to compensate herself by indulging every whim and 
caprice. She was not cruel or malicious, in fact she was good- 
natured and generous in the extreme with her friends, but her 
upbringing had made her thoughtlessly selfish, extravagant and 
frivolous. Her deep love for her children might have made her 
more serious, but they were taken away from her according to court 
etiquette, to be brought up by ladies and gentlemen of the court. 
Disgusted by the deceit and flattery that surrounded her, she 
created a circle of her own, composed of intimates who would treat 
her as a friend, not a Queen. This informality outraged both the 
people and the aristocracy: the latter were jealous of her partiali- 
ties, the former resented that their queen should enjoy their privi- 
leges: they considered it an indignity, unfitting the grandeur of 
France. The crisis finally came when Louis XVI., discouraged by 
the emptiness of the exchequer, took the dangerous step of summon- 
ing the States General. This body, made up of three groups, the 
nobility, the clergy, and the common people, had not met in over a 
century, and the summoning of it proved the weakness of the crown. 
The Queen implored the King to use high-handed methods, but Louis 
states was ever irresolute, and after an attempt at resistance 

General gave Way bcforc the will of the assembly. 

Great changes were made ; the States General which had hereto- 
fore met separately and voted by groups, so that the two upper 
National houses could control all measures, by a vote of two to 
Assembly Q^e, now met together, and voted by individual mem- 
ber. Many of the privileges enjoyed by the aristocracy were abol- 
ished; the king was given a salary but could no longer draw un- 
limited sums from the treasury ; the assembly was to meet at stated 
intervals, and could not be dismissed by the king. The system of 

16 



electing members was changed too, and local governments rear- 
ranged : altogether a carefully drawn-up constitutional monarchy- 
was established, which remains even to-day one of the most remark- 
able documents of history. 

The Revolution was entirely different from that of 16-i2 in Eng- 
land ; that had been a rising of a party in Parliament against the 
French ^"^S ^ud his adviscrs personally ; this was the revolt 

Revolution pf a nation against a system. One great mistake only 
was made by the assembly, and that was in regard to religion. To 
put an end to the influence of the Vatican, the assembly decided 
that the bishops should be appointed by the State, and these in turn 
appoint the lesser clcrg\% in defiance of the Pope's decrees. Until 
this time, though, the church had sometimes interfered with politics ; 
polities had never interfered with the church: now Catholicism 
became a political party in France, and for a time religion was lost. 

In spite of this, however, up to this point the French Revolution 
was a triumph of modern civilization : led by such men as IMirabeau 
and Lafayette, aristocratic idealists with the wall and confidence 
of the people to back them, the assembly might well be proud of 
its work; but during the session, which lasted a long time, the acute 
bread shortage led to riots, and the people angry and indignant 
attacked Versailles itself, and forced the royal family to return to 
Paris. This was followed by an attempt of the King and Queen to 
escape from France, which completely shook the loyalty of the 
people : somehow the plan got out, they were captured, brought back 
and imprisoned in the Tuileries. From that time their doom was 
sealed, and in spite of appeals to the Emperor of Austria, the 
Queen's brother, she and the king were both beheaded. 

The wise decisions of the assembly were now put aside, and 
Rfiign of under such men as Robespierre and ]\Iarat, the reign 
Terror ^f terror began which disorganized France and lasted 

until out of chaos and disorder arose a man of genius, who was to 
restore France not only to her old glory, but to a fame greater than 
that she had boasted during the days of Charlemagne or Louis XIV. 
Crises always create opportunities; Napoleon Bonaparte was the 
man who seized them, and out of the debris gained immortal vic- 
tories for France, and an immortal name for himself. 

As Consul, General, and Emperor, Napoleon's ability was un- 
paralleled : like Frederick the Great, he was a patron of the arts. 

Napoleon ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^"^^ ^^^' ^^ kuCW llOW tO choOSC thosC who 

would be useful to him. The old aristocracy had been 
annihilated during the Revolution ; he made his own out of generals 
who had won him victory, and statesmen who had helped him. 
Napoleon was a growth of the Revolution but he was democratic 
only in that he believed in equal opportunity for all ; he thought 
that the common folk were best off governed with a firm hand; 

17 



and there was little liberty, except for the obscure, during his rule. 

Having established order in France, Napoleon turned to the out- 
side world. As First Consul he conquered Egypt and Italy; and 
Napoleonic then later as Emperor vanquished Holland, Prussia, 
Wars Austria and Russia. The proud Austrian Emperor, 

who considered any one short of a Bourbon, or a Wittelsbach, a 
mesalliance, gave him his daughter in marriage, glad of even a 
disadvantageous peace ; Silesia and other provinces were taken 
from Prussia; Napoleon's son was made King of Rome; other mem- 
bers of his family, or family by his marriage with Josephine Beau- 
harnais, ascended the thrones of Holland and Naples. In Russia 
alone he defeated himself after a series of victories, by pushing 
his conquests too far into that gigantic country, where supplies and 
reenforcements were too difficult to reach. The invasion of Eng- 
land was never carried out, although the two nations were at war 
for years and fought both on land and at sea. 

At last a coalition was foi-med by the nations of Europe, to defeat 
Napoleon's ever-increasing power; and after Elba, the hundred 
days, and the battle of Waterloo, he fell: the world 
passing with his fall another milestone in the long 
fight for liberty against unlimited power. Though the close of the 
eighteenth century saw Napoleon's power in the ascendant, it was 
nevertheless the beginning of a new epoch; for the things com- 
menced in it had been fulfilled by the nineteenth and early 
twentieth centuries. The era of democracy had arrived, and the 
example which America, France, and Switzerland, that 
^^ ^ pioneer republic and buffer state of the Alps, gave the 

world was destined in the next century and a quarter to be followed 
by Mexico, Portugal, China, Russia, and several of the Latin 
American states. 

But to return to the early nineteenth century : the fall of Napo- 
leon in 1815 confirmed what the eighteenth had begun; and the 
next fifty years were to show a tremendous advance in many ways. 
Such inventions as the steam engine and the steamboat revolution- 
ized trade and international intercourse ; the discovery of elec- 
tricity, and later in the century the inventions of telephone, wire- 
less and automobile made the old world move more rapidly. 

Commerce has become the dominant factor in modern history, 
and the agricultural products and needs of the various nations 
are among the most important reasons for treaties, alliances and 
wars. This commercialism is perhaps, with the extraordinary 
development of great personalities, statesmen, soldiers, inventors 
and artists, one of the principal results of our modern system: 
through it prosperity has extended east and west, and the whole 
world is indivisibly bound together. 

18 



It is now necessary to consider, though briefly, the individual ad- 
vance of the different nations since the Napoleonic wars. 

The Austro-Hungarian Empire as it stands to-day is abnormal: 
it is neither the result of race nor geography ; for it has extended far 
beyond its natural boundaries, and has united against 
Century their wills various antagonistic races. It is the result 

Austro- of generations of conquests and annexations; and in- 

Empfre ^^" cludes in its population : Czecks, Slavs, Croats, Latins, 
Magyars and Germans; but of these, although far in 
the minority, only the Mag}'ars and Germans rule. 

When the Emperor Francis Joseph was called to the Austrian 
throne in 1848, on the forced abdication of his uncle, the Empire 
Francis iucludcd part of Italy, as well as a third of Poland, 

Joseph Hungary, Tuscany, Bohemia, and other small states. 

In the wars that followed, though the rebellion in Hungary was 
put down, Italy at length threw off the Austrian yoke. The young 
Emperor had a difficult task, for the autocratic methods of Metter- 
nich and the eccentricity of the imperial family had shaken even 
the faith of the Austrians in the Ilapsburgs while the Hungarians, 
though defeated, were not subdued. However, during his long 
reign that terminated only in 1916, Francis Joseph gained the 
personal affection of his subjects, perhaps partly because of his 
misfortunes ; for not only was the empress assassinated but his son, 
the Cro\vn Prince Rudolph, met with a tragic and mysterious death, 
leaving as heir to the empire the Emperor's nephew, the Arch- 
duke Francis Ferdinand, with whose anti-Prussian policies he 
was completely out of sympathy. Whatever the cause, the Emperor 
was loved aiid during his reign not only held his empire together, 
increased the industrial, mining, and manufacturing output of the 
nation, developed the ports on the Adriatic, but also added Bosnia, 
Herzegovina, and Transylvania to his possessions. 

Now though this seems a great victory for the dual-monarchy, 
this expansion, in fact all of Francis Joseph 's seemingly prosperous 
. reign, has been a disaster; for Austria kept her in- 

influence tcgrity at the cost of her independence. Dominated 
by Prussia, whose purpose it served to have her extend 
her domains, Austria's policies have been for forty years dictated 
by Berlin ; and the emperor was practically the vassal of the Hohen- 
zollern. An annihilation of her armies would have been less dis- 
astrous to Austria-Hungary than this gradual absorption by 
Germany. 

Russia meanwhile under the Emperors Alexander L. IT. and III., 

and Nicholas I. was developing. Although far behind the rest of 

Europe in the civilization of her masses, she had been 

since the days of Catherine II. (1762-1794) a tremen- 

19 



dous power. From sheer weight of population and territory she 
was very important, and though her peasants, who represented 
a great majority of the people, Avere uneducated and undisciplined, 
her aristocracy gave to the world some of its greatest statesmen 
and writers of the nineteenth century. With brilliant leaders and a 
docile, loyal, if ignorant people, Russia advanced in strength and 
wealth if not in liberty and popular intelligence. 

Labor was cheap, the soil fertile, and the agricultural results 
extraordinary ; railroads united the remote parts of the vast empire, 
bringing heretofore inaccessible provinces in touch with the gov- 
ernment. Siberia was colonized, mines operated, and commercial 
and diplomatic relations redoubled. The Crimean war was a check 
to Russian hopes in regard to India, but in 1878 the victorious war 
against the Turks gave the Slav empire new provinces to the south. 

All went peacefully in the interior until the very end of the 
nineteenth century; the people, not knowing anything different, 
w^ere content ; and except for an occasional uprising in Poland, and 
the Pogroms, the imperial government had no political difficulties. 
Then a glimmering of light began to penetrate into the masses; a 
few leaders, student socialists of the Bourgeois class, and philan- 
thropic aristocrats for the most part, gave the peasants new ideas, 
and there was unrest. The unpopular marriage of the young Czar 
to a German princess was unfortunate for the Romanoffs, and 
the cruel attitude she took in regard to the tragic accident at the 
coronation made her thoroughly hated. Not only the peasants, but 
the aristocracy and the middle class disliked the empress, for 
Germans were racially antagonistic to the Slavs, and from the time 
of her accession Germans began to permeate Russia. 

The Russo-Japanese war finally brought matters to a crisis ; for 
the people, realizing that the end so disastrous to them was partly 
due to the indifference of the Imperial family, rose 
consti- with indignation ; and so at length in 1905, Russia was 

tution given a constitution, and took her place among the 

great nations which had been swept by the tide of freedom. 

To the south of the Russian Empire, and east of the Austrian, 

great changes have been taking place too, during the 

Bafkans ^^^^ ccntury, and the waning power of the Turk has 

made room for another group of European nations 

in the Balkans. 

The Balkan countries are racially separate and individual, but 
their union is inevitable because of their geographic positions ; they 
must eventually, with Transylvania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, form 
a great Balkan empire, which will not only preserve their own 
peace, but with a Slav buffer state, made by the re-uniting of 
Poland, help to maintain that of Europe. 

20 



Serbia's history as a nation dates only from 180i, but can boast 
as many revolutions and changes of government as the most ancient 
nation. The strife between the Kara-Georgewitchs and 
the Obrenowitehs has been continuous and only ceased 
when outside attacks made it necessary for the Serbs to unit* for 
defense. During the past ten years, however, the story of Serbia 
has been heroic and admirable. 

The Bulgarians, though mostly Slavs, are ruled by a German 
„ , . king, and have been the puppets of Prussia; in conse- 

Bulgarians '^' n •, • i i i r^. i • 

quence they are far better oiganized than the Serbians, 
INIontenegrins or Albanians, but have lost their independent 
character. 

Roumania is probably the best organized of the Balkan States; 

much of its population is Latin, and the people peace loving and 

. industrious ; until recently Roumania had escaped many 

of the petty wars that rent Southeastern Europe, 
and so she had time to develop her soil and her intellect. Her 
music and literature are charming, and of completely different 
character from the crude folk-music and legends of her neighbors. 
Last but not least is Greece ; built on the ruins of a glorious name, 
hereditary enemy of the Turk, holding a commanding position 

geographically she is full of possibilities, and so has 

been flattered and patronized by all the great nations. 
As a brother of the then Princess of Wales (Queen Alexandra) 
England supported the election of Prince George of Denmark as 
king of Greece; Russia gave a Grand Duchess as his queen, and 
Prussia arranged a marriage between its Princess Sophie and the 
Greek heir, Constantine. These alliances have been of little avail, 
however, as the last few years have proved. 

While these changes were taking place in the near East, the orient 
too was bending towards the new system. India and the Straits 

Settlements, colonized and now governed by the British, 
offeiu^^^'"" were giving their quota to the trade of the world, in 

tea and rubber ; and were of vital importance not only 
because of their commercial development, but also on account of 
their geographic situation, which commands the sea trade routes 

to the far East. Under the improvements made by the 
Settlements English government, educational, governmental and 
and India sanitary, the old civilization of India bloomed forth 
again ; unlocking its old treasures to the world, and producing new 
treasures in art, literature and philosophy. 

China too now unguarded her doors that for several centuries 
had been barred to foreigners. The settlement of Hong Kong on 

the island of Victoria, was established by the English 

in 1849 ; and in the early fifties the combined American 

21 



and British forces made a successful expedition into Northern 
China; soon the cities of Shanghai and Tientsin were given as 
concessions by the Chinese government to the various nations and 
inhabited chiefly by foreigners; whom trade or religious missions 
took to the East. The opening of China was like the opening of 
long closed store-houses; its wealth was extraordinary, and once 
the ports were safe for them, the merchantmen of all the world 
thronged there. The advance of Western civilization in a few 
years was miraculous; the Chinese imperial government, under 
the Dowager Empress, was at first antagonistic, but soon bowing 
to the inevitable, established diplomatic relations with the American 
and European powers, and conceded a portion of 
Legatfon Peking to them collectively, as a Legation quarter. This 
Quarter scction of the city has remained, in spite of the Boxer 

uprising and the recent establishment of a republic, international 
property, and is patrolled by an international guard. 

With China open to the world, it was natural that Japan should 
soon follow ; the power of the Tokugawa Shoguns, who had opposed 
any foreign relations, was now ended, and the young 
jaSn" Emperor Mutsu-Hito had ambitions to extend the 

power of Japan beyond the Islands that had so far 
constituted the empire. Some fifteen years before his actual ac- 
cession (Nippon had been for several years under a regency) Com- 
modore Perry, in command of the U. S. oriental fleet, had landed at 
a small western port, and obtained permission from the Japanese 
to come ashore. Soon after Nagasaki, Kobe, Yokohama and Jeddo 
were opened to foreigners ; and diplomatic, commercial and banking 
relations established. The inevitable following of Greek church, 
Koman Catholic and Protestant missionaries soon arrived, and in 
an incredibly short time, there were foreign colonies started all 
over Nippon. Under the leadership of the brilliant new Mikado, 
the Japanese army was built up, the navy begun, and trade with 
all parts of the world firmly established. But a few years were 
to see Japan victorious over China and Russia; governing Korea, 
wielding a tremendous influence over the entire East, and among 
the great powers of the earth. 

One of the results of occidental and oriental intercourse which 
is given little thought, is the coming of Hindoo and Buddhist mis- 
sionaries and philosophers to Europe and America; and the 
exchange of thought. 

Before returning to Europe one must consider too the part which 
Africa has played in the last century. Settled by several nations, 
. she has reflected, as America did in the seventeenth 

century, the quarrels and intrigues of Europe. Be- 
^^^^* cause of her great gift for colonization, Britain is to- 

day predominant suzerain of South Africa ; while Egypt was, until 

22 



the declaration of war, nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, and 
governed by Turkey. After the Napoleonic wars, Turkey recovered 
Egypt; and until the present one appointed the Khedive as vice- 
roy. The Khedivial appointment was hereditary, and in the sixties 
the enormous extravagance of Ismail Pasha, incurring overpower- 
ing personal and national debts combined with the waning strength 
of Turkey, all except nominally gave Egypt into the hands of 

England and France. The Suez canal, with that of 
Canal "^^ Panama, perhaps the greatest event as well as feat of 

modern times, gave Egypt tremendous importance. 
The nations that had stock in the canal organized by a French com- 
pany, were of course given a vote in the management of the canal, 
and had their representatives in the law-courts and the different 
departments of government; but from the Sudanese war until the 
present one, England alone patrolled Egypt, and was responsible 
for her peace. 

Three other oriental nations developed rapidly in occidental 
civilization during the nineteenth century : Burma, Siam and Per- 
Persia ^^^" "^^^ ^^^ former concern Europe and America only 

in a commercial way ; but Persia is of vital interest be- 
cause she controls the overland route to India. During the last 
score of years all the nations have tried to help and advise her and 
in 1910 the United States government sent IMr. Schuster as financial 
adviser to the Shah ; but the enterprise was a failure, partly due to 
German intrigue, partly because of the methods this up-to-date 
business man tried to use with an indolent conservative people. 
With great diplomacy, Persia might in time have accepted his in- 
novations, but Mr. Schuster tried to hurry the East. 

Meanwhile in Central Europe events moved yet more swiftly 

than in the East ; Prussia under King William and his great minister 

. Bismarck, had not only kept but enlarged the aims of 

Frederick the Great; Saxony, Wiirtemburg, Hesse, 
Brunswick, Hanover and all the small German states, were united 
once more in an empire, but now under the complete domination 
of Prussia. Bavaria, by force of arms and by a brutal underhand 

intrigue against King Ludwig II., which the Austrian 
Em^re emperor might have avoided had he not been too afraid 

of Prussia, was brought unwillingly into the union, 
Schleswig-Holstein was wrested from the Danes; Alsace-Lon-aine 
from the French in the war of 1870 ; the army was increased, the 
military became the ruling class, and the civil population was 
governed with a discipline of iron. 

When the Emperor William I. died, he left a great organization 
in operation, and had, with Bismarck's aid, trained to carrj' it on, 
not his son, the weak delicate Frederick whose wife and leanings 
were English, but his grandson William II., who within a year 

23 



succeeded him. William II. is an autocrat, by birth, educa- 
tion and circumstance: he inherited not only the results of Fred- 
erick the Great's and William I.'s efforts, but also their tastes and 
ambitions; while Bismarck had preached pan-Germanism to him 
from the cradle. The machine was already working, it remained 
for him to use it; and after his accession in 1888, the German 
navy was developed, from one of small size to one of the world's 
greatest. Huge munition factories were established and existing 
ones enlarged with the imperial approval, specialists were employed 
to work on high explosives and gases; colonies, in reality military 
bases, were settled by Germans in China and in Africa ; and a 
network of secret agents spread through Russia, England, France 
and America. The Kiel Canal deepened ; Heligoland bought and 
fortified; the concession for the Bagdad railroad obtained; the 
remarkable canal system begun, which has reduced German trans- 
portation to the minimum cost. Air craft were built and subma- 
rines improved; manufacturing and agriculture increased to their 
utmost capacity; while the military spirit of the German public 
was perhaps the most remarkable achievement of all, accomplished 
by education and unending propaganda. The German peasant 
class, which in the eighteenth century was the most free of the 
continental peoples, is not even allowed to think for itself to-day; 
the Kaiser throughout his reign has been preparing thoroughly for 
the great future he planned. 

France had during this period of German advance been laboring 
under revolutions and counter-revolutions. Bourbon, republic, and 
France in Bouapartc had succeeded each other ; and finally after 
telnth^"^' the Emperor Napoleon III. had been removed from 
Century ^^q throne in the seventies, France, once more a re- 

public, was left suffering from fifty years of unrest. In spite of 
dissensions and changes in government, however, the last forty 
years have seen her recover much of her prosperity, and the in- 
domitable spirit of the French has been an inspiration to all liberty- 
loving people. 

Italy had during the nineteenth century, through the unending 
j^^j efforts of her great statesman, Cavour, and the valiance 

of Garibaldi, driven out the Austrians, and united her 
states under one king. Spain, the fifteenth century leader of the 
s ain world, had one by one lost her colonial possessions, 

until in 1898, being forced to yield the Philippines to 
the United States, her international influence was small ; but she 
^^ too had recently freed herself from political oppres- 

sion, while her neighbor Portugal, a few years later, 
rebelled against the royal government and declared itself a re- 
public. 
Belgium, which in the eighteenth century had freed herself from 

24 



Austria, and become, instead of the states of Brabant, part of the 
Belgium Netherlands, in 1830 separated herself from Holland, 

and under her own king and constitution showed 
extraordinary progress ; ranking among the great nations commer- 
cially, and establishing her colonies in the Congo. The Scandi- 
navian nations after a period of internal unrest arranged their 
difficulties and settled down to a time of industrial and agricultural 
prosperity ; one of their great sources of revenue, like Holland, 
whose progress had continued steadily, being dairy products. The 
era was universally one of progress and development. 

While the continent had been building and advancing across 
the North Sea England had become the British Empire. English 
and Scotch colonists in Canada, Australia, New Zea- 
an(f ^" land, India and Africa, had asked and received repre- 

Empi''r'l sentation in the home government, and the mother 

country gathered all these nations, many of them now 
with colonies of their own, into a league with her, forming a great 
empire of which she was the nucleus. Though the England of 
the nineteenth century can boast of no one dominating character 
such as Napoleon or William I., she represents the new system of 
things, in the number of great men she produced : Pitt, Wellington 
and Nelson in the early years of the century ; Disraeli and Roberts, 
the sponsors of the empire; Salisbury and Gladstone; and finally 
Kitchener, 

Two immediate results of Britain's divided dominions were her 
great navy and her merchant marine ; both were the natural conse- 
quences of necessity, but both were dangerous to German schemes 
of aggression ; and to counter-check each the Teuton Empire built 
ship for ship, and redoubled her industrial output. 

Of Britain 's wars of the last century, that of 1812 against America 
met with defeat; the others, Napoleonic, Crimean, Sudanese and 
South African, were victorious : the two latter, and the wise liberal 
rule that followed them did more to unite the widespread domains 
than any previous event, while the improvement in the native 
conditions in both Africa and India is one of the triumphs of the 
Empire. 

Ireland has remained the one discordant link ; and is one of the 
most difficult problems that confronts the government : antagonistic 
to England by race, tradition, and religion, she has 
Sefa^nd Gver been the tool by which other nations have in- 

trigued to injure Britain. Hardly had the Irish kings 
given their allegiance to Queen Elizabeth, after four centuries of 
warfare and rebellion, when the relaxed discipline of the Stuart 
rule gave them an opportunity to attack and massacre the English 
and Scotch settlers. Cromwell took full toll for this, and by his 
merciless methods planted the seed of hatred for England in 

25 



Ireland ; fifty years later the intrigues of Louis XIV. were trying 
to put James II. back on the English throne by making an up- 
rising in Ireland. James actually gathered, with aid of French 
money, the Irish about him ; but was defeated by William III., and 
fled to France. This, however, intensified the ill-feeling, which the 
Roman Catholic Church has been untiring in its efforts to stir up ; 
and finally German money has been spent broadly to encourage the 
Irish to rebellion. 

Notwithstanding the fact that they cannot agree among them- 
selves upon the terms of the home rule which the British govern- 
ment offers them, and that they have the controlling vote in the 
House of Commons, the Nationalists complain constantly of oppres- 
sion, and are unwilling to give up their seats in the English 
Parliament, when they obtain their own. 

Despite these difficulties which must soon find a solution, and 
despite the machinations of Germany, England and the British 
Empire stand firmer than ever, and the bill of 1911 depriving 
the House of Lords of its permanent veto, is one more step in 
the way of democracy. The British aristocracy knows to-day that 
if it is to remain the governing class, it must do so on its own 
merits, and by the will of the people, not by hereditary privilege. 

And lastly, because it is the most wonderful of all, there is the 
United States with her miraculous development. Born with the 
birth of democracy, like a modern child she sees only 
states "of ahead, and is greedy of improvement. The men who 
America made her constitution, like that of France, were ideal- 
ists, and the thought of offering liberty and hope to the oppressed 
peoples of the earth is perhaps the most glorious that has ever 
been put into practice ; but it has its dangers, which only experience 
can safeguard. Is a fortnight crossing the sea enough education 
to prepare the lowest peasantry, often the criminals of Europe, for 
the opportunities and obligations this land of golden promise offers 
them ? True, some are called by its ideals, but many come because 
of the gain only; and the masses of fortune seekers who fill the 
great melting-pot, have an equal share in its administration, have 
long ago outnumbered the descendants of the great men and 
women who won this freedom for posterity. 

The only criticism that it is possible to make of the early history 
of the United States is in regard to the Indians ; and that is hardly 
its responsibility, as the policy of pushing aside the 
iiJdian^^ native inhabitants had been established in the early 
days of the colonies. The United States government 
has to its credit given the remaining tribes reservations, and has re- 
cently tried to educate and save what was once a noble, but now a 
dying race; and in return the answer by the Indians, to America's 



first call for volunteers in this war, is something they may well be 
proud of. 

During the past hundred and forty years, the United States 
have spread from the thirteen original states that bordered the 
Atlantic, across the whole continent of America. Victorious in every 
war, that of 1812 against England, the IMexican and the Spanish; 
united more finuly than ever by the civil war; giving great scientists 
and inventors to the world ; boasting such a genius as Lincoln ; 
America's progress is a revelation; and in her politics and labor 
questions alone lie the problems that she must overcome. The 
war of the secession in accomplishing one of its splendid purposes, 
the liberating of Slaves, gave to the United States thousands of 
unprepared voters, while it took ajmost as many from the land. 
Of the foreign immigrants that yearly receive the franchise, pro- 
portionately few understand or read the language thoroughly; 
and so necessarily turn to union leaders for advice, which puts 
immense political power in the hands of the labor bosses. Conse- 
quently the two are linked together; Labor supports tiie politician 
that will help it; and Politics yield to labor whose support it needs. 

This war is the blow America needed to save her from drifting 
through prosperity into materialism ; all has developed so successful- 
ly that the best in the nation have given their efforts to 
and business, instead of the public welfare ; but now that 

America ^|^^^^ ^^,^ needed, they are flocking to the banner. The 

next year or so will tell has success temporarily done her harm, 
or is America to rise higher than ever from the crisis? 

One more nation must be mentioned before considering the 
present: Mexico. Upon the ruins of a vanished civilization that 
_ . resembled that of ancient China the Spaniards founded 

ftlGXlCO 

a colony that after centuries threw off their rule ; and 
after years of struggle, tragedies and revolutions, is the torn, 
bleeding IVIexico of to-day. In the middle of the nineteenth century, 
Maximilian, brother of the Emperor of Austria, was through the 
intrigues of Napoleon III. chosen emperor by the Mexicans, to be 
executed by them not long after, when at the request of the United 
States, in compliance with the ^Monroe Doctrine, French influence 
M^as withdrawn. Diaz for a long time held the IMexicans together, 
but peace could not last ; and the past ten years have been a con- 
tinuous story of murder and bloodshed destined to make Mexico a 
tool in the able hands of Germany. 

Such were the conditions immediately before the war. History," 
as the centuries have proved, is made up of rotations: nations and 
races have been at their zenith just before their fall ; 
German and it has usually been a new nation that has sup- 

planted them. The British empire was on the crest of 

27 



the wave, and Prussian ambition saw in Germany the young nation 
which was not only to usurp her power, but exceed even the great- 
ness of Napoleonic France, or ancient Rome. The absorption of her 
allies and the conquest of the Balkans was to make German terri- 
tory extend from the Baltic to the Adriatic, from Hamburg to 
the Persian Gulf; the Bagdad railroad was to give her the control 
of oriental trade ; by taking all of Poland and the Baltic provinces 
to the north of Riga, she would have Russia at her mercy ; while 
to dominate England, the Bagdad railway was not enough, Ger- 
many must have Atlantic ports as well; and to do this it was 
necessary to annex Belgium and the north of France by another 
war. 

Such was the situation when the assassination of the Archduke 
Francis Ferdinand in June, 1914, gave William II. the opportunity 
of beginning the war that he had long planned and for which he 
had just terminated his preparations; all was in readiness, and 
the death of a man who had opposed him and whom he hated, was 
to the Kaiser as good an excuse as any. The people of Germany 
too were ready, for the Pan-German plot, a plan conceived as far 
back as 1895, and definitely arranged in 1911, had been preached 
to them until it had become an obsession. Hate had become the 
dominant feature of the German people ; hereditary hate of France ; 
racial hate of Russia; and jealous hate of England and America. 
To destroy the power and trade of the two latter nations was un- 
doubtedly the ultimate object of the Pan-German plot ; and though 
the Germans scarcely hoped to accomplish it in this war, their 
whole training for two centuries had been to make their country 
supreme as a military, naval and commercial power. 

Most of the events that immediately preceded the war were due 
to German wire-pulling, and even as far back as the seventies the 
Tunis difficulty, between France and Italy, was due to 
irJtHgu'e Prussian intrigue, carefully managed by Bismarck, who 

wished Italy as an ally. The misunderstanding be- 
tween the United States and Mexico ; the Irish unrest ; the railway 
strikes in England ; political crises in France, Belgium and Japan ; 
and especially the Balkan wars; all have been traced to German 
agents. 

In 1899 a new idea, which is another outcome of democracy, was 
given to the world, and the Hague conference met, strongly backed 
^ by the Czar Nicholas and the Emperor William. This 

national wonderful thought was planned to bring all countries 

together in an idealistic world democracy, international 
brotherhood, and universal peace. Armies to be done away with, 
and international cases tried before an international court of 
arbitration. 

Many nations sent representatives to the congress, which again 

28 



met in 1907, and nearly all gave money and gifts to the "peace 
palace" at the Hague, completed in 1913, where the 

Conference sessions wcre to be held. Though it has not succeeded 
in averting this war, this peace movement has opened 

many new channels of thought, and will, one hopes, some day be 

put into practice. 

And now the last phase of the drama sees the nations so en- 
twined, that it is impossible to view them individually. On one 
side is Germany and her vassal-allies, the result of the 
The merged Ottoman and Holy Roman Empires ; their do- 

and minions spreading across the whole of Central Europe 

Entente and into the southeast. On the other side the En- 

tente ; France with her well trained army and national 
pride, England with her navy and high traditions, Russia with her 
vast resources of men and natural materials, but no organization ; 
Serbia with her small valiant army ; and Belgium whose heroism 
saved the world, as the pebble which put the huge machinery of 
Germany out of order. 

It was undoubtedly a grave disappointment to Prussia that Italy 
failed to join her Teutonic allies, as she would have brought addi- 
tional forces as well as giving Mediterranean ports; but she was 
not indispensable, and the Kaiser was too clever to depend on any 
uncertain allies; particularly as Italy's treaty only called upon her 
to assist Germany in case of a defensive war. Of the Balkan 
states, Roumania and Bulgaria would both have been useful as 
a link with Turkey, but in case Roumania wavered, as she did, 
it had long been planned to hack a highway through Serbia, to 
join Bulgaria and Turkey; while Greece too, though useful, was 
not essential to the Pan-German plot. William II. had calculated 
too carefully to be dependent on any nations, except those com- 
pletely dominated by Germany's power. 

Of the neutrals, Sweden was, because of her traditional hatred 
of Russia and her extensive commercial relations with the Central 
^^ ^ , powers, pro-German; Holland, Switzerland and Spain 

Neutrals ^ ^.' V. ^ . ^i • -r^ ■, t -kt • 

were divided m sympathies; Denmark and Norway in- 
different, and Mexico controlled by German agents. 

This then was the condition of international relations when the 
war broke out in 1914: Japan, Montenegro, Portugal, Roumania, 
Siam, China and America were to join later in the fight for liberty, 
while several other nations were to break their relations with the 
Central powers ; but in the beginning it was tlie alliance against the 
Entente ; with military domination or the world 's freedom at stake. 

This is not an account of the war, but a summary of the events 
that led up to it ; so it would be out of place to enumerate the 
battles, the advances and retreats which every one knows. Certain 

29 



great facts have already been demonstrated by it however. First, 
that no amount of preparation, force or intrigue can conquer 
when they oppose what is just and honorable; that psychology 
plays as great a part in the war as armies; that men are still 
willing to lay down their lives for their ideal; that the spirit 
of liberty is unconquerable, except by its own misuse ; and finally 
that every nation, be it Japan, Turkey, Italy, Russia or America, 
has need of its faith and religion. In the hour of need, every 
man turns to his God, without whom no man, however great he 
may be, can stand. 

Now the great conflict has been raging for four years, nearly 
all the nations have been drawn into it, and in the battle line 
Germany has not advanced much. For some time now, 
of T^^'^'^ on the western front the allies have been gaining, 
J^ars j^jj(j they are growing stronger while Germany is weak- 

ments euiug in strength; but in her underhand warfare 

she has been more successful. Russia has collapsed 
because of Germany 's intrigues, Italy was all but defeated through 
propaganda; in Roumania politics have been played to secure a 
victorious German peace. Through the Vatican, as ever the friend 
of Austria, and through the press, peace offensives have been car- 
ried on ; while German agents are constantly trying to disorganize 
labor in France, England and America. 

Against these defeats, however, stand out certain allied achieve- 
ments : the adoption of the draft by the United States and the re- 
markable subscription to the government loans ; the transformation 
of France 's industrial resources into those of war, and her complete 
political unity ; the unity of the British Empire and her volunteer 
army of over five million men, before the adoption of conscription. 
At home as well as in the battlefield, the allies are slowly conquering 
the Hun. 

What does the future hold, politically and spiritually? Will 
the war end with a decided military victory, or by exhaustion of 
men, food, supplies and money? Will the world be reorganized 
into great racial nations, Anglo-Saxon, Slav, Latin, Germanic, etc., 
or will the nations go on as they were before, only with an inter- 
national league to enforce peace and a high court of arbitration? 

History moves in circles: after the oligarchy of Greece and the 
The republic of ancient Rome, the world reverted to despot- 

Future? igjQ ig Quj. democracy to last, or is this but a tran- 

sition stage? 

Trade, boundaries and racial and hereditary antagonism are 

among the reasons for the war; but beneath everything is the 

fight between military tyranny and liberty. Democracy 

of has been creeping on us for centuries, until in the 

Democracy gjgj^teenth it became a fact as well as an ideal ; but alas 

30 



how different was that seed to what it has grown into to-day. 
Democracy as it was conceived by Voltaire, Mirabeau, Hamilton 
and Jefferson in its biggest sense meant the liberty of mind and 
body, bringing with it responsibility in proportion to its privileges; 
it meant that each man had a share in the burden of the state 
as well as the benefits ; and recognizing the debt that part ownership 
in the country gave him, paid the obligation by giving his best 
to it. It meant the equality of opportunity for all, and gave to 
those who seized it the chance of advance by toil to prosperity; 
but with this came the added duty of wealth or position. Democracy 
gave but it made its demands as well ; it protected the individual, 
but it was also for the good of the whole ; offering every one its 
opportunities; but exacting loyalty and support in return. 

And how is the great international democracy of the world in- 
terpreted in this twentieth century? IIow are the uneducated 
2Q^.j^ masses of Russia, Mexico and China fitted for that higli- 

Century est of privileges : self-government ? To the greater part 

emocracy ^^ them democracy means not liberty but license, with 
responsibility unknown. It is an opportunity in these countries 
for professional politicians to play for their own profit with the 
welfare of their countries and fellow-countrymen. And in the 
most enlightened countries, America, England and France, a con- 
stant warfare exists between labor and capital which, instead of 
supplementing, try to destroy each other. 

The spirit of world democracy to-day is take much and give 
little ; tear down instead of build up ; a solution will and must 
be found, in fact the remedy is already here in the war itself, for 
to restore the old noble standards takes the sacrifices and ideals 
which are being developed by it. Prosperity has made the whole 
world arrogant and unstable ; the church has not been equal to the 
advance of the last two centuries, and civilization has built its 
shrine to material wealth and power. 

Excess invariably brings reaction, as is illustrated in Russia 
to-day, and crises like the present always bring changes; so if 
we are to keep the freedom which we are fighting for, and the 
liberty gained at such a cost, we must be willing to give all to 
bring democracy back to its old inspiring ideals. 

There are many prophecies and many suggestions as to what 
the future may bring, but it alone holds the solution ; one thing 
only is certain, that out of this Armageddon the world will emmerge 
purified humbler and with reborn faith. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




